In 2008 I spent a night in Guayaquil before finding a last-minute flight to the Galapagos Islands. My only memory of the city is my bewilderment as I ventured into the raucous, bustling concrete jungle on a Friday night. A friendly local approached me and I had little choice but to let him help me navigate the chaos. So the only thing I was looking forward to this time around was finding some warmth after the relative cold and rainy Cuenca. I had two days to wait for my homeward flight, so I tried to make the most of it. ISLA SANTAY It's worth the visit just to get some peace so close to the city itself. There is a walking-biking bridge across the river from near the malecon. It's free to enter, but take a ... read more

This entry is just a list of snapshots of Cuenca, one of the most comfortable spots in South America. Except for the traffic. And I mean that it's comfortable if you're a tourist and not one of the many Venezuelan refugees flashing their useless Venezuelan currency, which is actually a pretty effective way to evoke sympathy. They have money but it's useless. We spent nearly a week there, which gave us plenty of time to walk around and witness some interesting scenes. *A weekday evening and Peggy and I stroll toward Parque San Sebastián. The faint melody of 'Barbie Girl' crescendos as we turn the corner to find dozens of locals aerobic dancing, led by instructors atop the church steps. We sit outside at the adjacent Jodoco Belgian Brew to watch. *Through the showcase window of ... read more

Santa Ana Central American capital cities tend to be congested urban jungles, brimming with cement and re-bar. The second cities are often less dangerous and more unique.. While this is somewhat true of Santa Ana, it hardly rivals Xela in Guatemala or Leon in Nicaragua. There are signs throughout advertising their 450th anniversary, so there's quite a lot of (colonial) history there, but the town center mainly comes off as being dirty and sketchy. But Peggy and I enjoyed our stay at Casa Verde, essentially a model for what every hostel should be. Lago de Coatepeque This turquoise-blue lake, 15k around and cradled in a vast, forested caldera, is reason enough to visit El Salvador. In fact, it's probably the prettiest lake I've been to. After my experience at the filthy Lago de Suchitlan, I wasn't ... read more

My original plan was to take a Hedman Alas bus from La Ceiba to spend a night in San Pedro Sula before heading west to Lago de Yojoa. But in the morning the German owners of the hotel informed me that the bus wouldn't be going. I asked if it was too empty to go, and they said no - that the driver had been shot the night before. The news channels in Honduras cover the violence and protests non-stop, and people can't seem to look away. It was pretty surreal to watch press conferences akin to Leslie Nielsen's character in Airplane telling everyone that the situation is under control and to remain calm, and then other interviews with a man wearing a ski mask. I asked my host mom if he was a gang member, ... read more

I did some research comparing the larger, Miami-esque island of Roatan to the laid-back, backpacker-friendly Utila and decided to go for the smaller, quieter option. The Ferry Barf-a-Rama Utila is 40km from La Ceiba, and the trip took about 40 minutes on a super-fast ferry, meaning that we were moving at over 32 knots (60 km/hr or 37 mph), which is insanely fast on open Caribbean waters. The math doesn't include the no-wake zones at either end. This translated into basically being stuck on the Bayern Kurve (Pittsburgh reference) for 40 minutes. When we left the port in La Ceiba I wondered why four crewmen stood around the perimeter of the main cabin. At first the passengers were giggling and making roller coaster 'whoas' in unison when we ramped off sizable waves at that speed. But ... read more